Not that this has ever happened, but the moment someone calls me a c*** they are out the door, and I am threatening to call the police if I ever see them in the store again. I would NEVER put up with that. (And if I saw it happen to one of my co-workers, I would not be calm about it --- I would descend on the offending customer from nowhere like like an avenging Fury, screaming and possibly wielding sharp objects.)
On the level of things that have actually happened, if a customer's abuse shifts from unreasonable complaints to personal insults ("Why are you so rude?") then my sympathy and helpfulness shut off. At that point, I am only politely trying to get rid of them. I've only actually lost my temper/hung up on people when they personally insulted me, as well as stopped listening to me. When it becomes clear that I'm only interacting with a person in the sense that I'm being a receptacle for their abuse, and there's no potential for further communication, I'm done.
On the level of things that have actually happened, if a customer's abuse shifts from unreasonable complaints to personal insults ("Why are you so rude?") then my sympathy and helpfulness shut off. At that point, I am only politely trying to get rid of them. I've only actually lost my temper/hung up on people when they personally insulted me, as well as stopped listening to me. When it becomes clear that I'm only interacting with a person in the sense that I'm being a receptacle for their abuse, and there's no potential for further communication, I'm done.
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